Give-A-Christmas funds assist CARE House in helping abused children

Carol Furlong, executive director of Care House Of Oakland County, is pictured at the facility with therapy-dog-in-training Franklin. Care House is one of four recipients of funds from Give-A-Christmas Year Around. (Daily Tribune/DAVID N. POSAVETZ)

Donations to Give-A-Christmas Year Around make it possible for abused children to get to their counseling sessions at CARE House of Oakland County, where Franklin, the goldendoodle puppy and therapist-in-training, waits to greet them.

CARE House provides no-cost counseling for abused children ages 3 to 18, and to their non-offending caretakers, but many caretakers have financial difficulties that can keep them from getting to appointments.

“Our gas card program was launched with Give-A-Christmas dollars,” said CARE House Executive Director Carol Furlong. “It’s working great, because it’s reducing the no-show rates of caregivers who can’t afford to bring their children in for treatment.”

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“It’s very important for children to come for counseling on a regular basis. To folks who are living on minimum wage and driving from county areas as far away as Hazel Park, Novi or Holly, driving can be quite a burden. The generosity of Daily Tribune readers allows CARE House to purchase $5 gas cards so those caregivers can get children to counseling sessions and the help they need.”

Furlong is down to just one gas card, which she is using to pitch the program to other organizations and individuals. She estimates that about 150 families have benefitted from gas card donations the first year, thanks to Give-A-Christmas Year Around, but more are needed.

CARE House is the only child advocacy agency in Oakland County where children who are suspected of having been abused can reveal the abuse in a safe environment. CARE House therapists see a total of about 90 patients a week.

“Dealing with child abuse every day is difficult,” said Shawn Ciavattone, business and community development for CARE House. “There’s something about having Franklin here that lightens the burden for the staff.”

Franklin’s training as a certified therapy dog won’t be complete until August. Then he will join human CARE House therapists in the children’s interview and therapy sessions, a new method CARE House will use to help ease the child’s stress and improve the efficiency of treatment, according to Furlong.

One hundred percent of all donations to Give-A-Christmas Year Around help those in need in Oakland County. In addition to CARE House, Give-A-Christmas provides funding to Common Ground, Boys & Girls Clubs of Oakland & Macomb, and The Welcome Inn day warming center for the homeless.

Give-A-Christmas was founded by The Daily Tribune 28 years ago to provide executive directors of charitable organizations with money for needs that fell outside their budgets and that they had no other way of filling.

The Daily Tribune will continue its tradition of publishing memorials or holiday greetings submitted by Give-A-Christmas donors.

This year, for the first time, donations can be made by going online to crowdrise.com/2013giveachristmas. Brief memorials or holiday greetings for publication should be written under donor comments. Please note if you want to remain anonymous.

Or, send your memorial or holiday greeting, along with a check payable to “Give-A-Christmas Year Around,” and mail to: